High-flying Punjab Kings and RCB battle for the top spot in IPL 2025

Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings will be fighting for the top spot when they lock horns with each other in the 34th match of the Indian Premier League 2025 on Friday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB are sitting at third on the points table with four wins in six games. Consistency though is still a concern as they haven’t been able to carrry on the winning momentum. 

RCB won their last game against Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets and should look to make it two wins in a row on Friday. However, the fact that they are playing on their home turf makes it difficult. They have played two games at home in IPL 2025 and lost both. The top three guided the team home comfortably in the last game with the likes of Salt (65 off 33), Kohli (62 off 45), and Padikkal (40 off 28) making significant contributions. In the middle overs, how Rajat Patidar plays against an in-form Yuzvendra Chahal will be a battle to watch out for. 

RCB would need another batter who can play spin well in the middle overs and Liam Livingstone is certainly not one of them. They have been carrying Livingstone for quite some time but how long they can persist with him is debatable. The Red Army have got Jacob Bethell warming the bench, who can play spin well and is handy with the ball. He could be given his maiden cap in a crucial encounter against PBKS. 

As far as the bowling is concerned, they can only expect Suyash to do better and be more consistent with his lengths. Hazelwood has lost his rhythm a bit in the last couple of games and his performance at Chinnaswamy this season doesn’t inspire confidence, either. In two games, he has gone for 83 runs in 5.5 overs with just one wicket to his name. 

On the other hand, the party hasn’t stopped in Punjab’s dressing room, since their emphatic win over KKR in their last game in Chandigarh. Punjab Kings have done some unbelievable things this season and the fans would hope they keep surprising them with their performances.  Yuzvendra Chahal, who endured a tough time with the ball, came up with a spell to be remembered for a long time against KKR. He helped his team defend 111 with a remarkable spell of 4 for 28 in four overs.

Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen have also been brilliant and this should give them a lot of confidence heading into their next game. Batting faltered in the last game but before that, PBKS posted 200-plus scores in back-to-back games. There isn’t much to separate between Punjab and RCB, as far as the batting is concerned. The top three are in decent form and just like Livingstone hasn’t fired for RCB, Maxwell is struggling for Punjab. 

The Australian powerhitter hasn’t learned anything from his previous dismissal and it doesn’t look like he is likely to improve even if Punjab continue to put faith in him. Josh Inglis was given the opportunity against KKR but struggled to read Chakravarthy. Whether he will be successful in Bangalore where spinners have got some assistance, remains to be seen. 

Playing XIs of both teams: 

RCB: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David/Jacob Bethell, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal

Impact sub: D Padikkal

PBKS: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis (wk), Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell/ Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal 

Impact Sub: Harpreet Brar